
Musicians called to join Stirling independence rally
READ MORE: Top Scottish Greens face coordinated challenges for MSP spots from party members
A statement from the group said: 'The pipe band Saor Alba Pipes and Drums have informed us that sadly they will be unable to attend Stirling this year, so we are putting out this call for musicians to march with us next weekend.
'Whether you play the pipes or the drums, or play other musical instruments, and you can make it along next Saturday – then you are most welcome. We encourage you to be at Old Stirling Bridge for 10.30AM sharp, 21 June.'
AUOB have also requested that participants make the march 'highly audible' through the use of megaphones, whistles, percussion instruments or portable speakers.
Saturday's march will take off from Old Stirling Bridge at 11am and will head on to Bannockburn Field.
READ MORE: Why using sterling after independence would be huge strategic mistake
A similar rally took place in 2024, designed in part to commemorate the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, in which Robert the Bruce claimed victory over the army of King Edward II of England.
The group added: 'AUOB calls for the movement to unite and march next Saturday; making a powerful demonstration and statement of intent.
'Scotland's ancient past calls to our future; what we must do to make independence happen, and make it stand.'
This weekend marks the group's second rally this year, following a successful march in Glasgow earlier this year which saw an estimated 5000 attendees walk from Kelvinbridge to Glasgow Green.
YesBikers for Scottish Independence were also in attendance and are set to lead the Stirling procession from the bridge.
The last AUOB march of 2025 is set to take place in Edinburgh on September 6.
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BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Greens issue new Holyrood candidate list after 'software error'
The Scottish Greens have had to issue a revised set of candidate lists for next year's Holyrood election after an error was discovered in how selection votes were counted. The results, originally announced on Monday, sparked a row with members which saw the party's internal election officer resign. The new lists have the same candidates in the top positions, with most of the party's MSPs securing key places which give them an easier path to re-election. However there are changes further down the Edinburgh and Lothian East and South Scotland lists, with some members being moved up and down the rankings. Under the electoral system for Holyrood, the regional list vote involves parties ranking their higher an individual appears on the list, the better their chance is of becoming an had been raised by party members regarding a number of the internal include that of the Scottish Greens' current co-leader Patrick Harvie, and North East MSP Maggie Chapman who failed to secure top spot in her party has now blamed a "software error" at the external company used to process the has apologised for the "inconvenience and concern" caused by the third-party software it used to count votes. A Scottish Greens spokesperson party officials were assured on Monday afternoon that the counting "had been completed and confirmed to meet the standards requested under our internal party rules".But following further investigation the software error was detected in an external programme used to count votes. The party said was first made aware of this on Tuesday spokesperson added: "Party officials were not aware of this error at the time of previous statements, and had been reassured by the third-party provider on Monday afternoon that all counting had been completed and verified."Following a full revised count with oversight and verification from current party officials and those involved in previous Holyrood selections, we can confirm our full list of candidates for the Holyrood 2026 campaign. "All of the previously announced 15 lead candidates remain duly selected and will continue to lead the party's campaign to elect a record number of MSPs."The party acknowledged it had been a "stressful process" for candidates and members and thanked them for their "vigilance, patience and trust". Mi-Voice 'sincerely apologise' for anomalies Simon Thomson, director of Mi-Voice, said a review triggered by concerned party officials identified a "technical fault" with the vote counting Thomson said the party was notified at 10:00 on Tuesday and the issue was reported to the software also confirmed the updated candidate lists then underwent "additional manual validation" to ensure they represented "the final and accurate outcome". Mr Thomson said: "We acknowledge the concern this has raised for party members and candidates. "We understand the frustration and confusion, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern it has caused." On Tuesday, Kate Joester, who was the party's internal elections officer, said she had not spotted the issue when the figures were first sent to initially endorsed a statement from the party reassuring campaigners that there were "no realistic doubts" about the after quitting her post Joester said she should not have given her backing amid concerns about how some votes were cast.


Edinburgh Reporter
4 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Scottish Greens admit error in vote counting process
The top selections remain the same but after some party members raised concerns over the process the party has checked again with the third party which conducted the count. There are some changes in the regional lists and in Edinburgh the new regional list removes Connal Hughes who is replaced by Mariusz Cebulski, and moves Cllr Kayleigh O'Neill above Cllr Chas Booth. The top three candidates on the regional list remain the same as before. The new regional list is as follows: Edinburgh and Lothians East Lorna Slater MSP Kate Nevens Q Manivannan Cllr Kayleigh O'Neill Cllr Chas Booth Adam Al-khateb Jo Phillips Mridul Wadhwa Dan Heap Dr Astri JS Kvassnes Alex Staniforth Mariusz Cebulski The previous list was as follows: Edinburgh & Lothians East: Lorna Slater MSP Kate Nevens Q Manivannan Cllr Chas Booth Cllr Kayleigh O'Neill Adam Al-khateb Mridul Wadhwa Jo Phillips Cllr Dan Heap Dr Astri JS Kvassnes Cllr Alex Staniforth Connal Hughes A Scottish Greens spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Greens are a proudly democratic party that gives every member a voice in our decision-making. 'We sourced a third-party provider to host and count the ballot papers for this year's selection process for the Holyrood election. Following concerns raised by members who had reviewed the voting data, party officials sought advice from the third-party provider on Monday afternoon. The party was assured that the counting had been completed and confirmed to meet the standards requested under our internal party rules. 'During further investigation by the third-party provider, they later discovered a software error in an external programme used to count votes. The party was first made aware of this on Tuesday morning. 'Party officials were not aware of this error at the time of previous statements, and had been reassured by the third-party provider on Monday afternoon that all counting had been completed and verified. 'Following a full revised count with oversight and verification from current party officials and those involved in previous Holyrood selections, we can confirm our full list of candidates for the Holyrood 2026 campaign. All of the previously announced 15 lead candidates remain duly selected and will continue to lead the party's campaign to elect a record number of MSPs. 'We would like to thank the volunteers and staff who worked to identify and resolve this situation under extreme pressure and to Mi-Voice for their cooperation in resolving the error. We understand that this has been a stressful process for candidates and members, and we thank them for their vigilance, patience and trust. 'We are looking forward to working with our strong Green candidates in this election campaign, in which we'll present our positive vision of a better future where people and planet are put above corporate greed' The Director of Mi-Voice, Simon Thomson said: 'Mi-Voice were contracted by the Scottish Green Party (SGP) to provide the voting platform for their candidate selection process. We undertook that work and provided SGP with results, which they then published around midday on Monday 21st July 2025. At around 2pm, we were contacted by SGP office-bearers seeking clarification about the production process of the results. We responded to say that the process had been undertaken according to the agreed procedure. 'Later on the same afternoon, following further discussions, it came to our attention that the count sheets provided for the Holyrood selection results appeared to contain anomalies. 'Following a thorough review, the anomalies were traced to a technical fault with the vote counting software provided by a trusted third-party supplier, which was used in place of the Mi-Voice counting system due to the specific STV rules required. The technical fault impacted the transfer of following preferences in cases where a candidate had been withdrawn from the count to create the ordered list. Although our internal procedures for producing and verifying results were followed, this technical problem was undetected prior to the distribution of the original lists. We notified SGP office-bearers of this issue at around 10am on the morning of Tuesday 22nd July. 'The third-party software in question is a widely recognised and industry-standard vote counting tool. We have since reported the issue to the software vendor and have implemented a solution that enables accurate list production moving forward. Using this revised process, we have produced updated candidate lists, which have undergone additional manual validation to ensure they represent the final and accurate outcome. These corrected lists have now been shared with the Party. 'We acknowledge the concern this has raised for Party members and candidates. We understand the frustration and confusion, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern it has caused. 'To ensure this does not happen again, we are reviewing our internal quality control measures and introducing enhanced checks, particularly for scenarios involving candidate withdrawals to facilitate the production of ordered lists. 'We remain committed to transparency, responsiveness and continuous improvement.' Central Scotland and Lothians West Gillian Mackay MSP Cllr Claire Williams Cameron Glasgow Edinburgh and Lothians East Lorna Slater MSP Kate Nevens Q Manivannan Cllr Kayleigh O'Neill Cllr Chas Booth Adam Al-khateb Jo Phillips Mridul Wadhwa Dan Heap Dr Astri JS Kvassnes Alex Staniforth Mariusz Cebulski Glasgow Patrick Harvie MSP Ellie Gomersall Cllr Holly Bruce Iris Duane Cllr Seonad Hoy Malena Roche Rana Noor Mohamed Isabel Ruffell Kit Renard Highlands and Islands Ariane Burgess MSP Cllr Kristopher Leask Cllr Kate Willis Cllr Dræyk van der Hørn Cllr Alex Armitage Anne Thomas Julie Christie Mid Scotland and Fife Mark Ruskell MSP Mags Hall Caitlin Ripley Ryan Blackadder Marie Stadtler Clare Andrews Andrew Adam Paul Vallot Elspeth Maclachlan North East Scotland Guy Ingerson Maggie Chapman MSP Esme Houston William Linegar Sylvia Hardie Kathryn Vincent Charlotte Horne Remi Joseph Michel Salvan South Scotland Laura Moodie Ann McGuinness Dominic Ashmole Cllr Neil MacKinnon Barbra Harvie Cameron Garrett Tim Clancey Tom Kerr Korin Matthew Vallance West Scotland Ross Greer MSP Cara McKee Louise Andersen Karen Sharkey Athol Bond Ian Sinkins Paula Baker Ross Collins Charley O'Hear Like this: Like Related

The National
5 hours ago
- The National
Scottish Greens admit 'error' in Holyrood candidate selection process
The party has faced internal pressure in recent days after it published its list of Holyrood candidates on Monday. Members raised concerns around the selection process for a number of regions, namely the North East and Glasgow lists. The National told how some members had demanded a recount took place, with one source branding the situation a "clusterfuck". READ MORE: More of the media are speaking up on Gaza. But what are they saying? While the Scottish Greens initially said that they were confident in the selection results, the party has now confirmed that an "error" had occurred in the software which was used to conduct the voting, which affected the ranking of a number of candidates. However, the party has stressed that the error did not impact on any of the lead candidates, who are most likely to be elected in Holyrood. In a statement on Wednesday evening, the party said it had sourced Mi-Voice, a third-party voting platform, to host and count the ballot papers for the Holyrood selection contest. It was first made aware of a "software error" on Tuesday morning, after previously being told by the provider that "the counting had been completed and confirmed to meet the standards requested under our internal party rules". The statement went on: "Party officials were not aware of this error at the time of previous statements, and had been reassured by the third-party provider on Monday afternoon that all counting had been completed and verified. 'Following a full revised count with oversight and verification from current party officials and those involved in previous Holyrood selections, we can confirm our full list of candidates for the Holyrood 2026 campaign. "All of the previously announced 15 lead candidates remain duly selected and will continue to lead the party's campaign to elect a record number of MSPs." It continued: 'We would like to thank the volunteers and staff who worked to identify and resolve this situation under extreme pressure and to Mi-Voice for their cooperation in resolving the error. We understand that this has been a stressful process for candidates and members, and we thank them for their vigilance, patience and trust. 'We are looking forward to working with our strong Green candidates in this election campaign, in which we'll present our positive vision of a better future where people and planet are put above corporate greed.' The National understands that the party's selection board contacted the candidates who had been affected by the error earlier on Wednesday. In a message to members which was seen by The National, the party's executive co-chairs, Carolynn Scrimgeour and Zoe Clelland, apologised "for the stress that Mi-Voice's error has placed on candidates and volunteers". They said: "In our capacity as executive co-chairs, we worked with relevant party office-bearers to ensure there was adequate oversight. "The Selection Board reconvened this morning [Wednesday] to agree actions, including verifying the accuracy of the revised results, before informing affected candidates, distributing the results to members and issuing external communications. We felt it was essential to provide information to candidates first. "All candidates have been notified of this situation, with affected candidates being called following this morning's Selection Board meeting." Votes were counted using an iterative Single Transferable Vote (STV) system and was done as a bottom-up iterative process, meaning that votes are transferred to the next candidate of choice if a voter's first candidate was eliminated in a count. Voting platform Mi-Voice said it had been contacted by the Scottish Greens just two hours after the party had published its list of candidates "seeking clarification about the production process of the results". Mi-voice director, Simon Thomson, said the firm had initially "responded to say that the process had been undertaken according to the agreed procedure". READ MORE: Two arrested as Led by Donkeys stage Gaza protest outside Labour Party HQ However, he continued: 'Later on the same afternoon, following further discussions, it came to our attention that the count sheets provided for the Holyrood selection results appeared to contain anomalies. 'Following a thorough review, the anomalies were traced to a technical fault with the vote counting software provided by a trusted third-party supplier, which was used in place of the Mi-Voice counting system due to the specific STV rules required. "The technical fault impacted the transfer of following preferences in cases where a candidate had been withdrawn from the count to create the ordered list. "Although our internal procedures for producing and verifying results were followed, this technical problem was undetected prior to the distribution of the original lists." Mi-Voice said it notified the party's office-bearers of the issue at around 10am on Tuesday. Thomson continued: 'The third-party software in question is a widely recognised and industry-standard vote counting tool. We have since reported the issue to the software vendor and have implemented a solution that enables accurate list production moving forward. "Using this revised process, we have produced updated candidate lists, which have undergone additional manual validation to ensure they represent the final and accurate outcome. These corrected lists have now been shared with the Party." Thomson went on to say that Mi-Voice acknowledged the concern the issue has raised for Green members and candidates, adding: "We understand the frustration and confusion, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern it has caused." He added: 'To ensure this does not happen again, we are reviewing our internal quality control measures and introducing enhanced checks, particularly for scenarios involving candidate withdrawals to facilitate the production of ordered lists. 'We remain committed to transparency, responsiveness and continuous improvement.'